“Happy Birthday” he said
Which of course then led
To my reply, “You too”.
I should have instead,
If I used my head,
Replied simply, “thank you.”
Tag: everyday
On Planting Dandelions
They purse their lips and blow
Sweet kisses in the air
Magic miracles to grow,
In a lawn under my care.
But my weed killer is focused
On having miracles ungrown
Once my spray gun’s hocused pocused,
Watch some magic of my own.
On the Way to the Well
I live in a place where the water’s unclean
And rather than choosing to drink the unseen
I go to the store for a vending machine
Dispensing five gallons of water that’s clean.
All my containers experienced drought
So last night I gathered them up for my route
To a filtration spot that’s completely about
The reverse osmosis to get garbage out.
Only it starts to pour as I pull in the lot.
I luckily manage to get the first spot,
But I sit in my car because I’d rather not
Get soaked to the bone like someone who’s caught
On a walk unsuspecting the water to come.
I see it, I came to get gallons of some
Cleaner water that’s filtered and not falling from
The sky I fault for this unfortunate sum
Of water that falls down with irony’s pain.
As me and my empty containers complain.
I step out in puddles that think I’m insane
To go out for some water in this kind of rain.
My Overwhelming Basement
I should sit down to sort through
All I’ve chosen not to,
Since I’ve finally cleared a spot in
Basement piles I’ve forgotten.
I can clearly see the product of some spider sweat,
Decorations in between the Christmas that I’ve let
Sit for months behind a box of Halloween
That should have squeezed in right between
The box of camping gear that waits to live in twenty-ten
And the clothes I’ve kept that, maybe, might just fit again.
My pegboard hangs near empty on the wall
While the tools returned from projects start to sprawl.
The treadmill, the weight bench, my old furniture
All of which will someday be used I’m sure,
In fact right now they’re put to use by shelving gear
For babies who we know won’t show this time of year.
The aforementioned clearing must have been a mirage.
So instead of cleaning this mess, I’ll go look in my garage.
Opening Doors
My bathroom door is tricky when it sticks
Which is more than I would like to admit.
If you come to use our washroom and it picks
You to mess with, please get used to it.
I carry two to-go mugs full of coffee,
A laptop bag, and some random thing.
Which is good till we both get to the spot we
Need the other one to do the opening.
Sometimes if I can find myself positioned
To hold the door for you who’s passing through
I’ll hold it, but it’s not what I envisioned
When person after person’s after you.
Timing’s not a bad thing to have hope in,
But a tricky door is something we can open.
Elevation
Weathered hands held a white circle of bread,
A papery wafery piece of this world,
But there through transubstantiation was instead
The flashpoint of eternity unfurled.
This form He chose is humble and plain,
Bringing me a moment’s circumspection.
How can this qualitatively contain
The suffering, death and resurrection?
Bird Poop Rainbow
My windshield wipers smear bird poop across the window.
As if the Holy Spirit’s in the form of a Dove,
I look at this white brown and green rainbow
And start thinking ‘bout God’s covenant Love.
We want a movie with music and clean rays of light
Even though Jesus healed eyes with dirt and spit.
Although we don’t all get the gift of sight,
Don’t tell me that God doesn’t give a poop.
The Bearded Food-Fighter Talking Snack
I grow hair on my face.
And I think that’s a bit weird
That my chin can displace
Skin and grow out a beard.
These opened up pores
bring a strange facility,
My beard slowly stores
Up food with ability
To conjure it later
When the time is right
These amo’d invaders
Prepare to food fight.
If you bring it with good things
You’ve bought just to throw
I’ll wing it with ling’rings
Of “Classics” I know.
These leftovers left on
Will stay there for lunch
Lest you look for the cleft on
My chin, throw some punch.
If you prompt a defense,
We’ll counter attack
My fork circumvents
My mouth with this snack
Plucked out of my hair
To put you to shame
I’m ready, beware,
If you don’t know my name,
I am that bearded guy
Who has hair coming out of his face.
I make small children cry,
Wearing food that I misplace
In this curly red haired machine
That lets torturers each take their turn
Trying to bring me down clean
With their blades and razor burn.
No, you lost this fight yesterday
Or maybe it was the day before.
So go ahead and play
with your food while I ignore
The unsightly bits of food in my beard.
The bits of food that make me look feared
To you and your friends that think it’s weird
That halfway through lunch, my plate has been cleared.
Defining Normal: Advice to a newly married couple
You’ll establish your family’s spirit and generosity,
Welcome others to your home and show them love
Open up your hearts, include those people we
Pass by in grocery lines, but don’t think of.
Establish what it means to pray in married life
Creating habits that will form a life of prayer
A unifying constant for a husband and his wife,
That will welcome God and show his love is there.
It’s not unlikely you’ll find children on the way
And you’ll show them what it really means to live.
To love each other and those caught up in today
You’ll show them what it really means to give.
The way you live your lives will be recorded
By your children’s memories that they recall.
The way you live your life will be reported
In nonverbal actions on display for all.
You hold a choice inside the palm of your hand.
It can be stuck there, nailed straight through,
Or more like a post-it you don’t understand
You could drop it and not have a clue.
You are a living example of this life that we get
From God who lets two lives become combined.
For your children, who you haven’t even met,
Normal is still yet to be defined
This vehicle will truly get me far
This vehicle will truly get me far,
Though I sputter down the Franciscan Way.
I still remember when I bought my car.
Car payments and I would no longer spar,
Instead I pay myself and now can say
This vehicle will truly get me far.
This vehicle is one that’s more on par
With one who lives like no one else today.
I still remember when I bought my car
Opportunity knocked this door ajar
So I went and stood inside the doorway.
This vehicle will truly get me far.
I’ll drive a beater then I’ll raise the bar
and buy something that’s less work and more play.
I still remember when I bought my car
It was a choice that some viewed as bizarre.
This turning point’s recalled as I relay
This vehicle will truly get me far
I still remember when I bought my car.
BonjourPoetry 